Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme

NEWSLETTER 01/2015

Lynx in Kosovo! firmed presence of the Balkan lynx is a huge step for further research and to jump start Confirmation of Balkan lynx in conservation efforts in Kosovo and cross- border with neighbouring Montenegro and Bjeshkët e Nemuna . In March 2015, Environmentally Responsible

Action (ERA) group confirmed the presence Currently ERA group through the Balkan Lynx of the Balkan lynx in Bjeshkët e Nemuna, Recovery Programme has only five camera Kosovo, as part of the Balkan Lynx Recovery traps installed in Bjeshkët e Nemuna. More Programme (BLRP). support is needed for the monitoring and the

conservation of this critically endangered The presence of the Balkan lynx in Kosovo species. was confirmed through three photos taken by Bardh Sanaja, ERA group a camera trap installed in the Rugova valley,

Peja. The public reaction to these photos was sensational, as these were the first tangible facts from a study for the presence of the lynx Balkan lynx evidence from the Al- in the region after nearly thirty years. banian Alps

Balkan lynx pictured in Thethi The mountainous region of the Albanian Alps – part of the larger transboundary region of Bjeshkët e Nëmuna/Prokletije mountains spreading into Kosovo and Montenegro – is likely one of the wildest areas of Europe characterised by very high mountains and deep glacial valleys that are covered with vast expanses of forests on lower altitudes and diverse and rich alpine pastures on the higher parts. The Albanian Alps have been considered as a prime area for lynx presence Fig. 1: One of the three pictures of Balkan lynx in in Albania since the beginning of the Balkan the Rugova valley, Kosovo. Lynx Recovery Programme. This was sup- ported by the Baseline Survey conducted in Although ERA group and the BLRP team has 2006-07, when quantitative questionnaires yet to determine whether the lynx was just indicated Valbona valley as one of the most passing through the Rugova valley, or wheth- promising areas for lynx within the Albanian er there is an active lynx population that is Alps. However, camera-trapping surveys reproducing in Bjeshkët e Nemuna, the con- conducted in Valbona valley by PPNEA re-

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searchers and our local collaborator Cathe- rine Bohne, from “Journey to Valbona” from 2011 onwards, had not unveiled any pictures of Balkan lynx in the area.

Sensational evidence however comes now from the adjacent valley of Thethi, where a photo of Balkan lynx was discovered by Catherine in May 2015. What makes this pho- tograph even more amazing – besides prov- ing the presence of Balkan lynx in the Albani- an Alps – is that it was taken with a mobile phone camera by a local nature guide opera- tor named Ardit Jubani. PPNEA has been in close contact with Ardit since the discovery of the photo and has learned more information on the circumstances of how it was taken. Ardit tells PPNEA that the photo was taken on 24 September 2014 and initially he wasn’t aware on the importance it might bare. He Fig. 2: A matter of seconds: Balkan lynx pictured in was guiding a group of tourists along trails on Thethi valley by a local nature guide. the eastern slopes of Thethi valley (bordering with Valbona and Curraj valleys) and the lynx In the coming months, PPNEA will try to in- happened to run behind him just when he vestigate further with camera-trapping meth- was preparing to take a group photo of the odology in and around the region of where tourists. Ardit reiterated that it was pure luck the photo was taken to verify whether the that he had his mobile camera ready; other- occurrence belonged to a single dispersing or wise he would have not had time to take the travelling individual, or whether it is a sign of picture so clearly, as the lynx disappeared in a more established lynx sub-population in the a matter of seconds. Albanian Alps. Aleksandër Trajçe, PPNEA This evidence is good news in three direc- tions for the Balkan lynx project in Albania. Firstly, it gives us a hard fact of lynx presence in a very important area of Albania. Secondly, Fourth deterministic camera- it shows us that the monitoring network that trapping study in Mavrovo NP PPNEA has worked towards in the past years is working efficiently as we were able to get 37 photos of at least 8-9 lynx the news from Catherine, our local collabora- From 15 March to 13 May 2015, MES in co- tor in Valbona. Thirdly, it gives hope for posi- operation with Mavrovo NP conducted the tive wildlife attitudes by tourists and tourist fourth deterministic camera-trapping study operators as the sighting happened in such within the territory of the Park. The main goal an extraordinary circumstance and was ad- was to estimate the number and the density mired and enjoyed by a number of people. of the Balkan lynx population in the Park, as well as to see the population trend by com-

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paring the results with the ones from the pre- Intensive camera-trapping survey vious three studies. 60 camera traps were in Puka-Mirdita and Kukës re- installed at 30 different locations in an area of 332 km². Camera traps were controlled every gions 10 days for functionality inspection, battery replacement, and checking the photos. At least 4 lynx present in northern Albania The study resulted with 37 photos of Balkan Twenty one photos of Balkan lynx of at least lynx from 11 different locations in the Park. 4 different individuals was the result of the Preliminary visual identification by compari- intensive camera-trapping survey conducted son of the pictures reveals a number of 8-9 in Albania by PPNEA during the winter 2014– independent (adult & subadult) lynx individu- 2015. This survey came as a continuation of als, which represents the minimum number several extensive and semi-intensive monitor- present in the Park. Statistical population ing surveys implemented in Albania during estimations by means of capture-recapture the last years (see earlier Newsletters). analysis are under way. Apart from Balkan lynx, we got many photos of the other large The study area was located over the three mammals present in the Park. regions Puka, Mirdita and Kukës, respectively in the Munella, Thirra and Zeba mountains. These mountains extend into the north part of Albania, which is the only area where PPNEA has observed several Balkan lynx (more than 4 different individuals) before. To clarify the status of the “population” in Munella, particu- larly to investigate whether there is reproduc- tion, was a priority question this time.

The study area was 300 km², divided into 48 grid cells of 2.5 x 2.5 km. 44 camera traps were spread in 22 cells, set face to face in every second grid. The camera traps were Fig. 3: Photo of one of the other large mammals left to work for approximately 20 days and (though yet small) present in Mavrovo NP. then were checked. The study lasted from 16 December 2014 to 6 June 2015 (due to During the study, the MES team had great heavy snow falls in winter) and was conduct- help from the employees of Mavrovo NP who ed by five people (PPNEA staff and locals). were actively involved in the camera-trapping activities by choosing proper locations, as The survey 2014–2015 brought good results well as the instalment and control of the cam- with a large and diverse number of pictures of era traps. wildlife species. Our cameras obtained 805 Aleksandar Stojanov, MES photos, including 21 photos of Lynx lynx balcanicus, 28 Martens foina, 2 Martes martes, 13 Felis silvestris, 80 Meles meles, 85 Vulpes vulpes, 1 Mustela putorius , 19 Sus scrofa, 493 Lepus europaeus, 5 Canis lupus,

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25 Ursus arctos, 25 Capreolus capreolus , 1 Field activities in southern Kosovo Rupicapra rupicapra, 2 Erinaceus rouma- nicus, 3 Sciurus vulgaris, and 3 birds. Camera-trapping throughout Sharr mountain range & areas Finch is carrying out a camera trap survey throughout Sharr mountain range covering a general stretch of about 700 km² and around Koritnik mountain area, basically throughout all mountain ranges in southern Kosovo. We began our inaugural season (2014–2015) in October 2014 by installing all of our 6 camera traps. Eventually during the period 2014/2 three camera traps were stolen from locations far away of each other, thus forcing us to begin the 2015 season with only three cam- era traps. Considering this drawback, we fo- Fig. 4: Balkan lynx pictured in the Munella Mts. cused in identifying the most promising sites for possible lynx and prey presence for these

cameras. Thankfully, we were provided with It is very important to highlight that we took four more camera traps and after some diffi- for the first time a photo and video of the culties with the shipment we were able to Balkan lynx in Zeba Mt. (between Kukes and install them in the field at the end of April Mirdita region), which demonstrates that the 2015. distribution range of Balkan lynx goes beyond

Munella Mt. Also, the Balkan lynx team found the tracks and scat of lynx in Munella and On one occasion during our field work, we Thira Mt. Compared to the previous camera- met with a forest ranger who told us that a trapping studies in Munella Mt in 2013–2014, local hunter in the northern part of Sharr area there are higher numbers of brown hare, roe killed and stuffed a lynx a few years ago. We deer and wild boar photos. The number of fox were very insisting in order to convince that pictures is however lower than last year. person to show us the stuffed lynx to at least Some of these species (brown hare and roe take a picture of it, but it was not easy. Final- deer) play an important role as prey species ly, he agreed to show us the stuffed animal, of lynx. unfortunately however it was not a lynx but a wild cat. This is just an example to illustrate

that people sometimes mix different animals Even though our camera-trapping did not and they call them differently depending on yield a photo of a lynx mother with cub(s) or a the region. In one region they for instance call couple of lynx together, we all the same lynx a wild cat, whereas in another they call it found some evidence for lynx reproduction: a tiger. Nevertheless, we are constantly in Monitoring network members reported a dead contact with forest rangers, hunters, wardens, lynx cub nearby Puka city. Although we were local villagers, etc. who never hesitate to call disappointed that the first cub found in the us whenever they receive information on lynx region concerned a dead individual, this ob- presence however accurate it may be. As we servation raises the hope that a functioning entered spring and the weather got better, we small lynx subpopulation persists in the area. saw human presence increasing drastically Bledi Hoxha, PPNEA throughout the study area, causing camera

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traps to take more photos and increasing the Prokletije and its surroundings is one of the chances of theft/damage to camera traps. most promising areas for finding lynx. NP However, despite many people seeing the Prokletije is situated in south-east Montene- cameras, fortunately nobody has touched gro and lies in the border area with Albania them up to now. and Kosovo. The last known lynx in MNE was killed in 2002 in the area of Prokletije which is a protected area since 2009.

From the end of December 2014 until middle of May 2015, the BLRP team has been set- ting up and checking 10 camera traps. All cameras were set up based on our sugges- tions and agreements with rangers of the NP, the forestry inspector responsible for Munici- pality Plav, Mr. Hakija Jasavić, and the direc- tor of NP Prokletije, Mr. Enes Drešković.

After a couple of camera-trapping controls, Fig. 5: Photo of a chamois in southern Kosovo. the results were interesting, but there was no indication of lynx presence. The results from the camera trapping study were satisfactory but fell short of confirming Fox (35), wild boar (1), brown bear (1), badg- lynx presence. The total number of identifia- er (1), hare (16), wolf (1), otter (1), and roe ble photos of wild animals from January to deer (1) were registered on the camera traps. June 2015 is 325. The most abundant animal Beside this, 12 hunting dogs and 7 hunters on captured images is the fox with 177 pho- were also registered. We therefore concluded tos during this five month period (app. first that this area is not as promising as we four months with only three camera traps), hoped. This unfortunately was proven with badger (16), brown bear (16), birds (7), the loss of two camera traps in the field. chamois (1, see Fig. 5), brown hare (19), hedgehog (9), marten (21), roe deer (42), wild In the late afternoon of 11 January 2015, we boar (6), wild cat (4), wolf (7). Noteworthy, received several calls from hunters and locals there are two photos with two wolves in each who stated that they were seeing lynx on mul- capture, two roe deer in another and a bear tiple occasions in the region Piva in north- with cub in yet another. west Montenegro. Based on this information, Azem Ramadani, Finch we visited this area but did not find any lynx or other animal tracks due to a severe snow storm during the previous night. Anyway, we Camera-trapping in Montenegro decided to set up two camera traps there.

News from the field work of the BLRP Montenegrin team Based on the baseline survey conducted in 2013 (see Newsletter 02/2013), National Park

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Update from the Field

Camera trapping in Bjeshkët e Nemuna (Kosovo) The Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme’s local partner in Kosovo, Environmentally Re- sponsible Action (ERA) group, has been camera trapping in Bjeshkët e Nemuna since August 2014. The main goal of the camera trapping survey has been to confirm the presence of the Balkan lynx in Kosovo. This Fig. 6: In the field with rangers. result was successfully achieved in March 2015 with the first pictures of Balkan Lynx in Kosovo (see article on page 1). In the vicinity of the locations used for setting these camera traps the BLRP team noted While the main target has always been cap- tracks of foxes (5), wolves (2), wild boar (1) turing a photo of the elusive lynx on the cam- and roe deer (1). era traps, the process of camera trapping has been a great opportunity to capture photos of After checking the camera traps, we found other medium and large-sized mammals that out that hunters were pretty close in their are living in western Kosovo. These camera identification of the lynx since there was an trap photos are some of the first hard facts in animal with a short tail. However, it was not a recent years on the mammals that are living lynx. It was short tailed fox! After this discov- in the mountains of Kosovo. ery we decided to remove the camera traps.

When we got the great news from our col- leagues in Kosovo that they got a photo shot of Balkan lynx on the border area with Mon- tenegro (see article on page 1), we decided to set up the camera traps in the area close to the Kosovo border. Now, they are in the most promising locations (sedle Čakor, val- leys Šekular & Kaludra, mt. Mokra) and we hope that we will have a successful session.

Aleksandar Perović, CZIP &

Marina Đurović, National parks of Montenegro Fig. 7: Photo of three roe deer at the same location as the Balkan lynx on Fig. 1.

To date, ERA group has captured more than 160 photos ranging from wild cat to wolf to brown bear to chamois to wild boar to even the Balkan lynx, itself. With the highest num-

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ber of photos being of roe deer, wild boar, red workshop took place on 26 March and the fox and brown bear. data set were the photos from the 2013 cam- era-trap session. The wardens had the task to compare and identify the lynx pictures, These photos have been captured by using make their camera-trap calendar and prepare only 5 camera traps in the field. The camera a capture history. After that we approached traps are spread over a 10 x 10 km grid. The the statistical program MARK for density and camera traps have been used thus far to population size estimates. monitor three different areas/grids in Bjeshkët e Nemuna, including the Rugova Valley, over a period of less than a year. All areas that The second workshop of this kind happened have been monitored are within the new on 3 June and this time the wardens dealt National Park of Bjeshkët e Nemuna. with the photos from this year’s session. They renewed their knowledge of the method and came up with the first preliminary results. While the photos have been a great way to raise awareness on the mammals that are living in Bjeshkët e Nemuna, the local community has expressed a desire for more environmental education, awareness raising and conservation efforts to protect these species and their habitats. Ellen Frank-Lajqi, ERA group

Workshops in Mavrovo NP

Improving collaboration with the Fig. 8: Mavrovo game wardens identifying lynx pictures. park

During the camera-trapping session (see pages 2-3), 5 workshops took place with the The GIS-data management workshops aimed employees of Mavrovo NP, the most im- at training the park staff in systematic collec- portant protected area for Balkan lynx con- tion of field data and database management, servation. The workshops featured: camera- working with GPS device, basic training in trapping from A to Z; GIS and data base QGIS for viewing and interpretation of field management; project application and imple- records. The workshops were organised for mentation. All the trainings were part of the seven staff members from the park that previously signed Conservation Action Plan showed interest and/or had previous experi- drafted by BLRP and the Park at the end of ence in GIS software and techniques. The 2013. agenda of the training consisted of a theoreti- cal part, field demonstration and practice. The

whole training was conducted using free The two camera-trapping trainings were or- software like: QGIS, Google Earth, Memento ganized in order to further familiarize the Database, and Orux Maps which are easily game-wardens of the park with the method. operational. We decided to give 2 workshops, one as the session commenced and one after it. The first

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We organized a one day workshop with the trained for two days on Balkan lynx character- topic “From idea to successful project” at the istics, habitat and prey and of course human info point of Mavrovo NP on 21 May. In total 4 impact on it. The high school students had to representatives from the park took part in this complete six hours of training on the specifi- workshop with the main goal to familiarize cations, habitat, history and cultural history of themselves how their idea can be trans- Balkan lynx, a critically endangered subspe- formed into a successful project and the op- cies. Furthermore, in order to be certified portunities in applying for the available funds. trainees the students had to provide the fol- Irena Andreevska, MES collaborator and ex- lowing facts about lynx: perienced facilitator who was in charge of this  Size (height and weight), diet, hunting be- workshop, has prepared guidelines (in Mace- havior, breeding behavior, necessary habi- donian) with practice examples on project tat. Trainees were also able to present a application and implementation. story, skit or poem about the lynx.  Demonstrate the ability to teach about the Trainings and capacity development activities lynx by educating younger students. are a crucial and inseparable part of conser- vation work. The trainings took place in their school envi- Dime Melovski & Gjorgje Ivanov, MES ronment, specifically in Rreshen High school and Puka Primary School. The programme content focused on learning by doing exer- cises, trust-building games and especially the Balkan lynx have youth ambassa- identification exercise with pictures of lynx, dors in Albania which was considered of interest from the participants. They learnt how to identify one Education programme successfully or more individuals of lynx from printed pho- started tos from our camera traps. Also, we demon- strated how to set the camera traps, their In the framework of the BLRP, PPNEA de- testing and in the end checking the pictures signed and started to implement in May 2015 with a laptop afterwards. These last two exer- an educational programme with schools in cises were especially appreciated by students the northern part of Albania. “Ambassadors of and they enjoyed them a lot. Balkan Lynx” is an educational programme, which was conducted according to the peer learning methodology of teaching, and was first organized in two pilot schools – in ''Rreshen High school'' and ''Migjeni'' Primary school in Puka.

The overall objective of this programme was to create a network of active young students in Puka-Mirdita region and to equip them with good knowledge of Balkan lynx in order to promote this further with their peers, with younger school children and to their families. Eventually, a closed group of twelve young Fig. 9: The “Ambassadors of Balkan Lynx” in Alba- students from the two selected schools was nia.

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The composition of student participants was Learning about Balkan lynx at such that brought together a harmonic group school of students with different talents e.g. good students in biology, good communication Educational kit lunch in 4 primary skills, talents on painting, creating songs or poems, handcraft, love for the environment. schools in Mavrovo NP This kind of selection is done on purpose in MES in collaboration with educational staff at order for the group to exchange good prac- four schools in Mavrovi Anovi, Rostushe, tices and work together continuously after the Trebishte and Velebrdo conducted educa- programme and to serve as “Ambassadors of tional activities about the Balkan lynx. Around Balkan Lynx” in their region and beyond. 280 pupils ages 6 to 14 years old attended these courses. The aim was to expand and widen the general knowledge of this critically On 22 May 2015, Biodiversity Day, an excur- endangered animal. sion was organized by the PPNEA team to the mountain Munella with the Ambassadors of Balkan Lynx from Rreshen, their teachers, The three different components of these train- PPNEA staff and local collaborators from ings complemented one another in order to Puka-Mirdita region. The students presented produce a clear picture of the Balkan lynx. a role-play theater for their peers and per- They were packed into an educational kit and formed outdoors their work based on the were implemented in two consecutive visits to training they received from our educational each of the four visited schools in May 2015. team. In the end, a certification ceremony took place for Ambassadors of Balkan Lynx.

The two trained group of students from Rreshen and Puka city will follow up their role as Ambassadors of Balkan lynx by presenting the information to local schools in their re- gion. We are planning to continue this ‘’school tour’’ in autumn 2015 and we are very enthusiastic with the Ambassadors and their engagement and passion to look after their role in the community and in the region. Fig. 10: Third component of the education activi- These trainings resulted in a great potential ties: field excursion with the BLRP team. for awareness raising and protection of the lynx and this is our overall goal – to instill passion for nature and species protection. During the first visit we organized age- Klaudja Koçi, PPNEA adapted lectures (1st component of the kit) containing information on lynx ecology and biology. Several days later we facilitated ex- ercises where pupils had to solve different tasks on the base of what they have learned during the lectures (2nd component). Each pupil received a folder with exercises. The third component involved a field excursion

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with the MES lynx team demonstrating inter- The video documentary will be released in esting monitoring methods. September 2015.

The results and the experience from the con- ducted activities demonstrated that the chil- dren not only recognize the lynx as highly endangered species, but also showed great interest for deepening their knowledge. They also felt much concern for the future survival of the Balkan lynx.

We will continue to spread the educational kit with the start of the new school year in Sep- tember 2015. We plan to visit schools in other Fig. 11: Balkan lynx infographic. target areas of the Balkan lynx project such as: Ilinska-Plakenska, Jablanica and Mt. Shar The trend of presenting information using Planina. data visualization has largely increased with Svetlana Pejovikj, MES the boom of social networks. Infographics are

now a powerful tool to quickly reach people’s attention and to raise their awareness for an Infographic and video documen- issue. The first Balkan lynx infographic has just been published: http://visual.ly/balkan- tary lynx-big-cat-standing-little-chance. It repre- sents an online poster containing general Information about Balkan lynx and information about the Balkan lynx and more the BLRP detailed facts on radio-telemetry research. Exactly 10 years have passed since our first Moreover, it will be printed as a panel and steps towards the conservation of one of the placed in Skopje’s zoo in front of the lynx most endangered mammal taxa in the world – cage. the Balkan lynx (see also page 12). In order Dime Melovski, MES to mark this anniversary, the BLRP decided to produce a short promotional documentary demonstrating the most important activities throughout the past 10 years. The film will PrespaNet strategy for the Prespa also emphasize the great deal of help the lakes team receives from the monitoring network – interested people in wildlife monitoring and BLRP team members attended strat- conservation. Stunning and devastated land- egy workshop in Laimos, Greece scapes in this film will try to capture both the amazing nature that the Balkans are still On 3–4 February 2015, PrespaNet members proud of and the awful transition most of the PPNEA, SPP and MES met in Laimos, countries are going through. This threat is Greece, to discuss a Transboundary Conser- slowly but surely becoming the most relevant vation Strategy for Prespa. This meeting also as the nature in the Balkans is shrinking at a brought together five other international or- fast pace. ganisations: EuroNatur, KORA, FZS (Frank- furt Zoological Society), Plantlife, and the

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SAVE Foundation. These NGOs have been system to gather data on large carnivores active in the Balkan region for many years present in Prespa. and have implemented a variety of projects. For this reason, PrespaNet members consid- The Transboundary Strategy for Prespa is ered it important to invite these organisations very important since the PrespaNet organisa- to be part of the Transboundary Strategy for tions PPNEA (Protection and Preservation of Prespa and to join forces in realising projects Natural Environment in Albania), SPP (Socie- with relevance to the Prespa lakes and Park. ty for the Protection of Prespa) and MES (Macedonian Ecological Society) will refer to During the two-day workshop, the participants this document when planning future initiatives worked through the Strategy document step in Prespa. by step. In working groups they discussed the Klaudja Koçi, PPNEA biodiversity of the Prespa lakes, the threat- ened status of the species living there, the transboundary strategy, the socio-economic situation and many other issues concerning Regional awareness raising on the ecosystem of Prespa. As a result, the Balkan lynx strategy document for the Prespa lakes will now be further elaborated by taking into con- BLRP at the Regional workshop of sideration the results of the workshop. the EU Platform on Coexistence be- tween People and Large Carnivores Several BLRP team members were invited to the first regional workshop of the EU Platform on Coexistence between People and Large Carnivores on 22 April 2015 in Pravets, Bul- garia. The workshop was hosted and orga- nized by platform member CIC (International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation) as a side event to its annual general assem- bly.

Fig. 12: Participants of the PrespaNet strategy workshop in Laimos, Greece. The main goal of the workshop was to pre- sent examples on transboundary cooperation

and/or conflict resolution regarding large car- An important outcome of the meeting was the nivores. We had the chance to present the establishment of five working groups with Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme to an au- members from each NGO who will work to- dience of around 120 participants, the majori- gether to create strategies and action plans ty hunting representatives. In addition, the for Prespa’s nature conservation. Among Balkan lynx travelling exhibition and project them is a “Wildlife monitoring” group with leaflets were exposed in the lobby in front of members from PrespaNet and the interna- the meeting room. tional NGOs KORA, EuroNatur and FZS. This group is part of the strategic planning and will Other presentations were on brown bear and work to establish a transboundary monitoring wolf in the Balkan and Carpathian regions. After each workshop session participants had

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the chance to discuss issues raised by the were the starting point of what developed into presentations and to express their own view- the Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme. In points. A summary of the discussions is pro- order to celebrate this anniversary and to vided in the workshop report (see below). inform all relevant stakeholders on the current status of the project and to agree on future plans we will hold an International Balkan Lynx Symposium on 21-22 October 2015 in National Park, Albania. We particularly invite national authorities from the Balkan lynx range countries to participate.

We will have representatives from relevant European organisations like the Bern Con- vention, the IUCN Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe and potentially also from the Eu-

ropean Commission giving key note presen- Fig. 13: Presenting the Balkan Lynx Recovery Pro- gramme at the EU Platform workshop in Pravets, tations. Bulgaria. We are looking forward to this very important In the afternoon, participants split into three event! working groups to analyse the Key Actions for Manuela von Arx, KORA Large Carnivore Populations in Europe. They were asked to rank the actions for each car- nivore species in the regions. In the lynx working group, the actions “Law enforcement with respect to illegal killing” and “Institutional capacity-building in wildlife management The „Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme” is agencies” were ranked highest for the Balkan jointly implemented by EuroNatur Foun- region. dation, KORA (Carnivore Ecology and Wildlife Management), MES (Macedonian The workshop report and all presentations Ecological Society), and PPNEA (Society are available here: for the Protection and Preservation of http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/sp Natural Environment in Albania). Activities ecies/carnivores/events_sub_workshop_bulgaria.htm in Kosovo are carried out in co-operation Manuela von Arx, KORA with NGO Finch and ERA (Environmentally

Responsible Action) group and in Monte- negro in co-operation with CZIP (Center 10th year anniversary of the BLRP for Protection and Research of Birds of Montenegro) and National Parks of Mon- International Balkan Lynx Symposi- tenegro. The Balkan Lynx Recovery Pro- um will be held on 21-22 October gramme is financially supported by MAVA Two national workshops in Macedonia and Foundation, Switzerland. Albania in April 2005 and the first regional workshop in Mavrovo in November 2005